Centre for Distance Education

SNDT Women’s University

Mumbai - 400 049

B.A. I - English
(w.e.f. 2018-19)
(New Course)

Semester - I

Course Title: Basic Concepts and Genre of Literary Study/

Introduction to Literary Studies – Concepts
and Genres

Subject Code: D.C.I – 145101

A.C. I - 175101
 SNDT Women’s University
Centre for Distance Education
Vice-Chancellor: Professor Dr. Shashikala Wanjari
Director: Dr. Chandrakant Puri
STATUTORY BODY FOR APPROVAL OF SLM OF CENTRE FOR DISTANCE EDUCATION
Sr. No. Name of the Faculty
Dr. Smriti Bhosle
1. Principal, L.J.N.J. Mahila Mahvidyalaya,
Vile Parle (East ), Mumbai
Dr. Varsha Shirgaonkar
2. P.G. Department of History
SNDT Women’s University, Mumbai
Dr. Sangeeta Bapat
3. P.G. Department of Music
SNDT Women’s University, Mumbai
Dr. Mira Desai
4. P.G. Department of Home Science
SNDT Women’s University, Mumbai
Dr. Mitra Parekh
5. P.G. Deparment of English
SNDT Women’s University, Mumbai
Dr. Pradnya Wakpainjan
6. P.G. Department of Education
SNDT Women’s University, Mumbai
Dr. Darshna Oza
7. P.G. Department of Gujarati
SNDT Women’s University, Mumbai
Dr. Sunil Ramtake
8. P.G. Department of Marathi
SNDT Women’s University, Mumbai
Dr, Jyoti Thakur
9. P.G. Department of Commerce
SNDT Women’s University, Mumbai
Dr. Chaitra Redkar
10. P.G. Department of Political Science
SNDT Women’s University, Mumbai
Dr. Pallavi Prakash
11. P.G. Department of Hindi
SNDT Women’s University, Mumbai
Dr. Veena Devathali
12. P.G. Department of Economics
SNDT Women’s University, Mumbai
Dr. Chandrashekhar Gawali
13. P.G. Department of Human Development
SNDT Women’s University, Mumbai
Mr. Chabukswar Dnyaneshwar
14. Assistant Professor Guidance and Counseling,
SNDT College of Home Science, Pune
Course Coordinator: Dr. Falguni B.Vahanwala.
Instruction Designer: Ms. Urvashi Mistry.
 English

Basic Concepts and Genre of Literary Study/ Introduction

to Literary Studies – Concepts and Genres
Subject Code ( D.C. I – 145101 / A.C. - 175101)

Objectives:
a) To introduce the students to basic concepts in literary studies such as what is literature, the
notion of literariness and figure of the literary author
b) To understand the distinction between literature, para literature and other forms of creative
and non-creative writing.
c) To focus on different forms and genres of literature especially the Novel and prose forms
like essay, short story, novella etc
d) To understand the distinction between different forms of literature.
e) To engage with the language skills needed in literary writing- cohesion, coherence,
structures of writing.

Unit No. Title of Lesson Author

Lesson 1 The Old Man And The Sea By Earnest

1
Hemingway Dr. Vinod Zalte
Lesson 2 Literature

2 Lesson 3 Forms and Genres of Literature Dr. Vinod Zalte

Lesson 4: Language skills in Literary Writing –

3 Dr. Vinod Zalte
Cohesion, Coherence, Structures of Writing

Recommended Text: The Old Man and the Sea – Ernest Hemingway, 1952, Harper Collins,
Canada, 2013 ISBN: 1443425214, 127 pages.

Publish by Director CDE - SNDT

@Centre for Distance Education, S.N.D.T Women’s University.

All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any other means without written
permission from Centre for Distance Education, S.N.D.T Women’s University.
Publishing year 2018.

Disclaimer:
Views expressed in the lessons are of the individual authors. The Center for Distance Education,
SNDT Women’s University may or may not agree with the same.
 Index

Lesson 1 The Old Man And The Sea By Earnest Hemingway............………………...…….. 01

Lesson 2 Literature ………………………………………………………………….………...12

Lesson 3 Forms and Genres of Literature ……………………………………...………..……15

Lesson 4 Language skills in Literary Writing – Cohesion, Coherence, Structures of

Writing………………..……………………………………………………………..20

Reference …………………………………………………………..………………..…...…..… 22

Questions for Internal Assignments ……………………...…..…..………..…..23

LESSON 1: THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA BY EARNEST HEMINGWAY
Unit Structure:
1.0 Objectives
1.1 About the Author
1.2. Subject Debate
1.2.1 About the Novella The Old Man and
the Sea
1.2.2 Characters in the Novella
1.2.3 Brief Summary
1.2.4 Detailed summary
1.2.5 Themes
1.2.6 Reference to Context
1.3 Questions for Self Study
Note: For reference to context students
are expected to read the original text.
1.0 Objectives
In this lesson students will be able to:
1. Understand the Novella
2. Critically evaluate the various themes and
issues in the prescribed text.
1.1 About the Author
Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961), born in
Oak Park, Illinois, started his career as a
writer in a newspaper office in Kansas City
at the age of seventeen. After the United
States entered the First World War, he
joined a volunteer ambulance unit in the
Italian army. Serving at the front, he was
wounded, was decorated by the Italian
Government, and spent considerable time in
hospitals. After his return to the United
States, he became a reporter for Canadian
and American newspapers and was soon
sent back to Europe to cover such events as
the Greek Revolution.
During the twenties, Hemingway became a
member of the group of expatriate
Americans in Paris, which he described in
his first important work, The Sun Also
Rises (1926). Equally successful was A
Farewell to Arms (1929), the study of an
1
American ambulance officer's disillusion -
ment in the war and his role as a deserter.
Hemingway used his experiences as a
reporter during the civil war in Spain as the
background for his most ambitious
novel, For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940).
Among his later works, the most
outstanding is the short novel, The Old Man
and the Sea (1952), the story of an old
fisherman's journey, his long and lonely
struggle with a fish and the sea, and his
victory in defeat.Hemingway - himself a
great sportsman - liked to portray soldiers,
hunters, bullfighters - tough, at times
primitive people whose courage and honesty
are set against the brutal ways of modern
society, and who in this confrontation lose
hope and faith. His straightforward prose,
his spare dialogue, and his predilection for
understatement are particularly effective in
his short stories, some of which are
collected in Men Without Women (1927)
and The Fifth Column and the First Forty-
Nine Stories (1938). Hemingway died in
Idaho in 1961.
1.2 Subject Debates
1.2.1 About the Novella The Old Man and
the Sea
The Old Man and the Sea is a Novella.
A novella is a text of written, fictional,
narrative prose normally longer than a short
story but shorter than a novel, somewhere
between 7,500 and 40,000 words. The Old
Man and the Sea was published 1952 after
the bleakest ten years in Hemingway's
literary career. His last major work, Across
the River and into the Trees, was
condemned as unintentional self-parody,
and people began to think that Hemingway
had exhausted his store of ideas.
Santiago's story was originally conceived as
part of a larger work, including material that
later appeared in Islands in the Stream. This
larger work, which Hemingway referred to
as “The Sea Book,” was proving difficult,
and when Hemingway received positive
reviews of the Santiago story, known then
as “The Sea in Being,” he decided to allow
it to be published independently. He wrote
to publisher Charles Scribner in October
1951, “This is the prose that I have been
working for all my life that should read
easily and simply and seem short and yet
have all the dimensions of the visible world
and the world of man's spirit. It is as good
prose as I can write as of now.”
The Old Man and the Sea, published in its
entirety in one edition of Life magazine,
was an instant success. In two days the
September 1st edition of Life sold 5,300,000
copies and the book version sold 153,000.
The novella soared to the top of the best-
seller list and remained there for six months.
At first, critical reception was warm. Many
hailed it as Hemingway's best work, and no
less than William Faulkner said, “Time may
show it to be the best single piece of any of
us, I mean his and my contemporaries.”
Others, however, complained of artificiality
in the characterization and excess
sentimentality. Despite these detractors, The
Old Man and the Sea was awarded the 1953
Pulitzer Prize and American Academy of
Arts and Letters' Award of Merit Medal for
the Novel and played a significant role in
Hemingway's selection for the Nobel Prize
for Literature in 1954.
[
1.2.2 Characters in the novel:
• Santiago:
The novella's central character. A parents to continue with Santiago. Manolin
dedicated fisherman.
• Manolin:
A young man from the fishing village
who has fished with Santiago since the
age of five and now cares for the old
man.
• Martin:
The owner of the Terrace (his name is
Spanish for St. Martin), he sends food
and drink to Santiago through Manolin.
2
• Rogelio:
A man of the village who on occasion
helps Santiago with the fishing net.
• Perico:
A man at the bodega (his name is
Spanish for St. Peter, an apostle and
fisherman) who gives Santiago
newspapers to read.
• Marlin:
An eighteen-foot bluish billfish and a
catch of legendary proportions.
• Mako:
A mackerel shark (dentuso in Spanish)
that is a voracious and frightening killer
known for its rows of large, sharp teeth.
• Shovel-nosed sharks:
The scavenger sharks (galanos in
Spanish) that destroy the marlin.
• Pedrico:
A fisherman in the village who looks
after Santiago's skiff and gear and
receives the marlin's head to use in fish
traps.
• Tourists:
A man and woman at the Terrace who
see the marlin's skeleton.
1.2.3 Brief Summary:
Santiago struggles to catch fish for 84 days.
People considered him unlucky, as he is
lonely, impoverished, and facing his own
mortality. Manolin, who is Santiago taught
since his childhood and he is also Santiago’s
partner in fishing, is not allowed by his
joins another successful fishing boat.
Though Manolin is prohibited to fish with
Santiago, he visits the old man every day
and helps him to carry his equipment, keeps
him company, and brings him food.
On the 85th day, Santiago sets out early in
the morning for his work. He goes deep on
the sea. His endeavor brings result as he
catches a big marlin. He heads to home by
belting his unbelievable catch, the marlin,
along the length of his skiff. While sailing
with his victory, a Mako shark attacks his
marlin and tears a great part of it. With great
efforts, he fights with Mako shark and kills
it with his harpoon and loses the harpoon in
the fight.
Mako shark’s attack opens the fish’s blood
and it attracts a group of shovel-nosed
sharks. Santiago tries his best to save his
catch with little success with whatever
remained of the Marlin he returns to the
shore with injuries. He looks at the skeleton
of the Marlin and goes to his hut and falls
sleep due to exhaustion.
Next day, Manolin goes to the old in an
early morning. He sees the old man injured
and cries for him. Mandolin brings coffee
for the old man and hears from the other
fisherman what he had already seen — that
the marlin's skeleton lashed to the skiff is
eighteen feet long, the greatest fish the
village has known. He waits for the old man
to awake and gives him coffee to drink. The
old man tells him about the attack. They
decide to fish together without caring for the
luck as the old man has much to teach him.
The tourists see the skeleton of the fish and
enquire about it to the waiter and he replies
it as a shark. At the same time, the old man
sleeps in the hut and dreams young lions he
had seen along the coast of Africa when he
was a young man. Mandolin calmly sits
beside the old man.
1.2.4 Detail Summary
Pages 1-18
An old fisher man from Cuba named
Santiago is without any catch for eighty-
four days.
He is “thin and gaunt with deep wrinkles in
the back of his neck...and his hands had
deep-creased scars from handling heavy fish
on the cords. But none of these scars were
fresh. They were as old as erosions in a
fishless desert” (10). Santiago's lack of
success, though, does not destroy his spirit,
and he has “cheerful and undefeated” eyes
(10). A boy, Manolin, is his only friend.
Mandolin helps Santiago for forty days
3
when he was without catch. Msaanolin’s
parents orders their son to join another boat
as the old man is without any success. Yet
the boy assists Santiago every day to bring
his boat at the shore.
Mandolin becomes success by earning
money on the other boat. Now he expects to
work with Satiago. But Santiago refuses him
by telling him to obey his parents. Santiago
tells Manolin that tomorrow he will go out
far in the Gulf to fish. Manolin says that he
will try to convince his new employer, who
is nearly blind, to fish near Santiago the next
day. That way, if Santiago catches a big
fish, Manolin and his new employer can
help Santiago manage it. Manolin offers to
fetch sardines for the old man, an offer
which Santiago first refuses and then
accepts. The writer tells us that “[Santiago]
was too simple to wonder when he had
attained humility. But he knew he had
attained it and he knew it was not
disgraceful and it carried no loss of true
pride” (14).
The two gather Santiago's things from his
boat and go to the old man's house. His
house is a very simple shack with a bed,
table, and chair on a dirt floor. There are
also religious pictures and a tinted
photograph on the wall, relics of his wife.
The picture that used to hang on the wall of
Santiago's wife had been taken down, since
it made him too lonely to look at it. At the
house, the two rehearse a nightly ritual of
speaking about fictitious rice and fish and a
cast net. They sold the cast net long ago, but
they still insist on speaking of it as if it is
there. The boy decides to go out to get the
sardines for them to eat.
Santiago then pulls out a paper and the two
discuss baseball, speaking with great
enthusiasm of Joe DiMaggio. Santiago tells
Manolin not to fear the Cleveland Indians,
but to have faith in the Yankees and trust in
DiMaggio. He tells Manolin that eighty-five
is a lucky number, and since tomorrow is
“the eighty-fifth day” that he will have gone
without a catch, maybe they should buy a
lottery ticket with that number. Manolin
leaves the house and Santiago falls asleep.
Pages 19-37
When Manolin returns, he wakes Santiago.
The two eat the food the boy has brought.
During the course of the meal, the boy
realizes the squalor in which the old man
lives and reminds himself to bring the old
man a shirt, shoes, a jacket, and a blanket
for the coming winter. The two-talk baseball
again, focusing as usual on Joe DiMaggio.
Speaking about great baseball stars, the boy
calls the old man the greatest fisherman.
Santiago accepts the compliment but denies
the truth of Manolin's statement, remarking
that he knew better fisherman than himself.
The boy then leaves to be woken in the
morning by the old man. Santiago sleeps.
Santiago dreams of Africa, where he
travelled as a shipmate in his youth. “He
lived along that coast now every night and
in his dreams, he heard the surf roar and saw
the native boats come riding through it... He
dreamed of places now and lions on the
beach” (24). The old man wakes and
retrieves the boy from his house. The two
take the old man's supplies from his shack to
his boat and enjoy coffee at an early
morning place that serves fishermen. The
boy leaves to fetch the sardines for the old
man. When he returns, he wishes the old
man luck, and Santiago goes out to sea.
Santiago leaves shore early in the morning
before sunrise. “He knew he was going far
out and he left the smell of the land behind
and rowed out into the clean early morning
smell of the ocean” (28). Soon, Santiago
rows over a sudden drop of seven hundred
fathoms where shrimp, bait fish, and squid
congregate. Moving along, Santiago spots
flying fish and birds, expressing great
sympathy for the latter. He wonders, “Why
did they make birds so delicate and fine as
those sea swallows when the ocean can be
so cruel? She is kind and very beautiful. But
she can be so cruel...” (29).
4
We are told that while other fishermen,
those who used buoys and motorboats,
thought of the sea as a masculine competitor
or enemy, Santiago “always thought of her
as feminine and as something that gave or
withheld great favours, and if she did wild
or wicked things it was because she could
not help them” (30). Santiago keeps
pressing out, past the great well where he
has been recently unsuccessful. He travels
out where schools of bonito and albacore
are, hoping there might be a big fish with
them.
Before light, Santiago casts his bait fish out
but does not let them drift with the current.
He wants to know exactly where his hooks
are. Santiago says of this, “I keep them with
precision. Only I have no luck anymore. But
who knows? Maybe today. Every day is a
new day. It is better to be lucky. But I would
rather be exact. Then when luck comes you
are ready” (32).
Santiago sees a man-of-war bird overhead
and notices that the bird has spied
something in the water. The old man
follows near the bird, and drops his own
lines into the area, hoping to capture the fish
the bird has seen. There is a large school of
dolphin traveling fast, too fast for either the
bird or Santiago to capture. Santiago moves
on, hoping to catch a stray or perhaps even
discover a marlin tracking the school.
A Portuguese man-of-war approaches the
boat. The old man recalls being stung by the
man-of-war before and happily recalls
watching their destruction. As he says, “The
iridescent bubbles were beautiful. But they
were the falsest things in the sea and the old
man loved to see the big sea turtles eating
them” (36). Having worked on a turtle boat
for years, Santiago expresses his empathy
for turtles. He says “most people are
heartless about turtles because a turtle's
heart will beat for hours after he has been
cut up and butchered... I have such a heart
too and my hands and feet are like theirs”
(37).
Pages 38-54
Santiago notices the bird again, and suspects
that he has found fish. Soon after, the old
man sees a tuna leap from the water and the
bird dives to catch the bait fish stirred up by
the tuna's jump. Santiago gently moves
toward the school and soon feels a bite. He
pulls the albacore in the boat and clubs him
to death.
The old man soon realizes that he is talking
to himself. “It was considered a virtue not to
talk unnecessarily at sea and the old man
had always considered it so and respected it.
But now he said his thoughts aloud many
times since there was no one that they could
annoy” (39). Santiago recalls himself from
such thinking, saying “Now is the time to
think of only one thing. That which I was
born for” (40). Soon, there, is a strong bite
on one of the lines Santiago cast out earlier.
Santiago notices a bite on his hundred-
fathom-deep line. The first bite is hard, and
the stick to which the line is connected
drops sharply. The next tug is more
tentative, but Santiago knows exactly what
it is. “One hundred fathoms down a marlin
was eating the sardines that covered the
point and the shank of the hook where the
hand-forged hook projected from the head
of the small tuna” (41). Encouraged by a
bite at so deep a depth so far out in the Gulf,
Santiago reasons that the fish much be very
large.
The marlin nibbles around the hook for
some time, refusing to take the bait fully.
Santiago speaks aloud, as if to cajole the
fish into accepting the bait. He says, “Come
on... Make another turn. Just smell them.
Aren't they lovely? Eat them good now and
then there is the tuna. Hard and cold and
lovely. Don't be shy fish. Eat them” (42).
After many false bites, the marlin finally
takes the tuna and pulls out a great length of
line.
Santiago waits a bit for the marlin to
swallow the hook and then pulls hard on the
line to bring the marlin up to the surface.
The fish is strong, though, and does not
5
come up. Instead, he swims away, dragging
the old man and his skiff along behind.
Santiago wishes he had Manolin with him to
help. Alone, though, he must let the fish
take the line it wants or risk losing it.
Eventually, the fish will tire itself out and
die. “But four hours later the fish was still
swimming steadily out to sea, towing the
skiff, and the old man was still braced
solidly with the line across his back” (45).
As the sun goes down, the marlin continues
on in the same direction, and Santiago loses
sight of land altogether. The result is a
curious stalemate. As Santiago says, “I can
do nothing with him and he can do nothing
with me.... Not as long as he keeps this up”
(47). He wishes for the boy again and muses
that “no one should be alone in their old
age.... But it is unavoidable” (48). As if in
response to this expression of loneliness,
two porpoises come to the surface. Seeing
the frolicking couple, Santiago remarks,
“They are good.... They play and make
jokes and love one another. They are our
brothers like the flying fish” (48). Santiago
then remembers a female marlin he and
Manolin caught. The male marlin had stayed
beside the boat in despair, leaping in the air
to see his mate in the boat before he
disappeared into the deep ocean. It was the
saddest thing Santiago had ever seen.
Something then takes one of the baits
behind Santiago, but he cuts the line order to
avoid distraction from the marlin, wishing
Manolin was there to watch the other lines.
Expressing his resolve, Santiago says,
“Fish... I'll stay with you until I am dead”
(52). He expresses ambivalence over
whether he wants the fish to jump, wanting
to end the struggle as quickly as possible but
worrying that the hook might slip out of the
fish's mouth. Echoing his former resolve
though with less certainty, Santiago says,
“Fish... I love you and respect you very
much. But I will kill you dead before this
day ends” (54).
Pages 55-72
A small bird lands on the boat
and Santiago speaks to it. He asks the bird
how old it is and worries that it will
encounter dangerous hawks. While Santiago
is speaking to the bird, the marlin lurches
forward and pulls the old man down, cutting
his hand. Lowering his hand to water to
clean it, Santiago notices that the marlin has
slowed down.
He decides to eat a tuna he has caught in
order to give him strength for his ordeal. As
he is cutting the fish, though, his left-hand
cramps. “What kind of hand is that,”
Santiago says, “Cramp then if you want.
Make yourself into a claw. It will do you no
good” (58). The old man eats the tuna,
hoping it will renew his strength and help
release the cramp in his hand.
Santiago considers his lonely condition. He
is surrounded by a seemingly endless
expanse of deep, dark water. Staring at the
clouds, though, he sees a “flight of wild
ducks etching themselves against the sky
over water, then blurring, then etching again
and he knew no man was ever alone on the
sea” (61). Santiago soon focuses on his
hand, though, and contemplates the
humiliation of a cramp, an insurrection of
one's own body against oneself.
Just then, the marlin comes out of the water
quickly and descends into the water again.
Santiago is amazed by its size, two feet
longer than the skiff. He realizes that the
marlin could destroy the boat if it wanted to
and says, “...Thank God, they are not as
intelligent as we who kill them; although
they are more noble and more able” (63).
Santiago says prayers to assuage his worried
heart and settles into the chase once again.
Not knowing how much longer it will take
to subdue the marlin, Santiago throws
another line out to catch a fish for food. His
cramped hand begins to relax, and in his
exhaustion, Santiago thinks about Joe
DiMaggio and his bone spur. Comparing a
bone spur to the spurs of fighting cocks,
6
Santiago concludes that “man is not much
beside the great birds and beast” (68).
As the sun sets, Santiago thinks back to
triumphs of his past in order to give himself
more confidence in the present. He
remembers a great arm-wrestling match he
had at a tavern in Casablanca. It had lasted a
full day and a night, but Santiago, El
Campeon (The Champion) as he was known
then, eventually won. “He decided that he
could beat anyone if he wanted to badly
enough and he decided that it was bad for
his right hand for fishing” (70). He tried to
wrestle with his left hand but it was a traitor
then as it had been now.
Santiago then catches a dolphin (the fish,
not the mammal) for food. He is able to
catch it just before dark because it starts
jumping in the air out of fear. He then
throws the line out again in case he needs
more sustenance later.
Pages 73-90
As the sun sets again, Santiago ties together
two oars across the stern to create more
drag. Looking up into the night sky,
Santiago calls the stars his friends and says,
“The fish is my friend too... I have never
seen or heard of such a fish. But I must kill
him. I am glad we do not have to try to kill
the stars” (75). After considering this,
Santiago begins to feel sorry for the fish
again and concludes that the people who
will buy his meat at the market will not be
worthy to eat of such a noble beast.
Recalling his exhaustion, Santiago decides
that he must sleep some if he is to kill the
marlin. He cuts up the dolphin he has caught
to prevent spoiling and eats some of it
before contriving a way to sleep. Santiago
wraps the line around him and leans against
the bow to anchor himself, leaving his left
hand on the rope to wake him if the marlin
lurches.
Soon, the old man is asleep. He dreams of a
school of porpoises, much like the two
porpoises who arrived to comfort him in his
loneliness. He also dreams of his village
house, and that his right arm is asleep;
though in reality, this is the part of him that
is still awake, waiting to be tugged by the
line. Finally, he dreams of the lions of his
youth on the African beach and feels happy.
Santiago is awoken by the line rushing
furiously through his right hand. The marlin
leaps out of the water and it is all the old
man can do to hold onto the line, now
cutting his hand badly and dragging him
down to the bottom of the skiff. His left
hand is asleep, so it is difficult to stop the
line from running out with only his right
hand.
Santiago finds his balance, though, and
realizes that the marlin has filled the air
sacks on his back and cannot go deep to die.
The marlin will circle and then the endgame
will begin. He cannot see the marlin but he
can hear him leaping out of the water.
Santiago cleans crushed dolphin meat off
his face because he is afraid it will nauseate
him and, vomiting, he will lose the strength
he needs to fight the marlin.
At sunrise, the marlin begins a large circle.
Santiago holds the line strongly, pulling it in
slowly as the marlin goes around. As
Santiago says, “the strain will shorten his
circle each time. Perhaps in an hour I will
see him. Now I must convince him and then
I must kill him” (87). Santiago feels faint
and worries that he will fail after this long
fight. But he prays to God that he will say
prayers later if only he can have the strength
to defeat the fish.
Santiago continues pulling him in until the
marlin catches the wire lead of the line with
his spear and regains some of the line.
Eventually, the marlin clears the lead and
Santiago pulls back the line he lost. At the
third turn, Santiago sees the fish and is
amazed by its size. He readies the harpoon
and pulls the line in more.
Pages 91-108
The marlin tries desperately to pull
away. Santiago, no longer able to speak
because he has become dehydrated, thinks,
“You are killing me, fish... But you have a
right to. Never have I seen a greater, or
7
more beautiful, or a calmer or more noble
thing than you, brother. Come on and kill
me. I do not care who kills who” (92). This
marlin continues to circle, coming closer
and pulling out. At last it is next to the skiff,
and Santiago drives his harpoon into the
marlin's chest.
“Then the fish came alive, with his death in
him, and rose high out of the water showing
all his great length and width and all his
power and his beauty” (94). It crashes into
the sea, blinding Santiago with a shower of
sea spray. With the glimpse of vision he
had, Santiago saw the slain beast laying on
its back, crimson blood disseminating into
the azure water. Seeing his prize, Santiago
says, “I am a tired old man. But I have
killed this fish which is my brother and now
I must do the slave work” (95).
Having killed the Marlin, Santiago lashes its
body alongside his skiff. The fish is too
heavy to put in the boat itself, so he must
tow it back to shore alongside the boat. He
pulls a line through the marlin's gills and out
its mouth, keeping its head near the bow. “I
want to see him, he thought, and to touch
and to feel him. He is my fortune, he
thought” (95). Having secured the marlin to
the skiff, Santiago draws the sail and lets the
trade wind push him toward the southwest.
An hour after Santiago killed the marlin, a
Mako shark appears. It had followed the
trail of blood the slain marlin left in its
wake. As the shark approaches the boat,
Santiago prepares his harpoon, hoping to
kill the shark before it tears apart the marlin.
“The shark's head was out of water and his
back was coming out and the old man could
hear the noise of skin and flesh ripping on
the big fish when he rammed the harpoon
down onto the shark's head” (102). The dead
shark slowly sinks into the deep ocean
water.
The shark took forty pounds of flesh from
the marlin and mutilated its perfect side.
Santiago no longer likes to look at the fish;
“when the fish had been hit it was as though
he himself were hit” (103). He began to
regret having caught the marlin at all,
wishing that his adventure had been but a
dream. Despite the challenges before him,
though, Santiago concludes that “man is not
made for defeat...A man can be destroyed
but not defeated” (103).
Soon Santiago considers whether his killing
the fish was a sin. He first says that he killed
the marlin to feed himself and others, and if
this is a sin, then everything is a sin. But he
had not only killed the marlin for food,
“you, [Santiago], killed him for pride and
because you are a fisherman. You loved him
when he was alive and you loved him after.
If you love him, it is not a sin to kill him. Or
is it more?” (105). Santiago soon ceases this
line of thought to concentrate on getting
back to shore.
He eats a bit of the fish from where the
Mako shark tore its flesh. He notes that it is
delicious, quality meat, but knows that other
sharks will smell it in the water. Two hours
later, two shovel-nosed sharks arrive at the
skiff. Since he has his harpoon to the Mako,
Santiago fastens his knife to the end of the
oar and now wields this against the sharks.
He kills the first shark easily by stabbing it
in the eyes.
Pages 109-127
While he easily killed the first
shark, Santiago has no such luck with the
second one, which shakes the skiff as it
devours the marlin from beneath. Santiago
apologizes to the fish for the mutilation it
has suffered by the sharks. He admits, “I
shouldn't have gone out so far, fish...Neither
for you nor for me. I am sorry,fish” (110).
Tired and losing hope, Santiago sits and
waits for the next attacker, a single shovel-
nosed shark. The old man succeeds in
killing the fish but breaks his knife blade in
the process.
More sharks appear at sunset and Santiago
only has a club with which to beat them
away. He does not kill the sharks but
damages them enough to prevent their
return. Santiago then looks forward to
nightfall as he will be able to see the lights
8
of Havana, guiding him back to land. He
regrets not having cleaved off the marlin's
sword to use as a weapon when he had the
knife and apologizes again to the fish. At
around ten o'clock, he sees the light of
Havana and steers toward it.
In the night, the sharks return. “By midnight
he fought and this time he knew the fight
was useless. They came in a pack and he
could only see the lines in the water their
fins made and their phosphorescence as they
threw themselves on the fish” (118). He
clubs desperately at the fish, but the club is
soon taken away by a shark. Santiago grabs
the tiller and attacks the sharks until the
tiller breaks. “That was the last shark of the
pack that came. There was nothing more for
them to eat” (119).
Santiago “sailed lightly now and he had no
thoughts nor any feelings of any kind”
(119). He concentrates purely on steering
homewards and ignores the sharks that
come to gnaw on the marlin's bones. He
tastes blood in his mouth and spits it into the
water, cursing the sharks. When he arrives
at the harbour, everyone is asleep.
Santiago steps out of the boat, carrying the
mast back to his shack. “He started to climb
again and at the top he fell and lay for some
time with the mast across his shoulder. He
tried to get up. But it was too difficult and
he sat there with the mast on his shoulder
and looked at the road” (121). When he
finally rises, he has to sit five times before
reaching home. Arriving at his shack,
Santiago collapses on his bed and falls
asleep.
Manolin arrives at the shack while Santiago
is still asleep. The boy leaves quickly to get
some coffee for Santiago, crying on his way
to the Terrace. Manolin sees fisherman
gathered around the skiff, measuring the
marlin at eighteen feet long. When Manolin
returns to the shack, Santiago is awake. The
two speak for a while, and Manolin says,
“Now we will fish together again,” To
which Santiago replies, “No. I am not lucky.
I am not lucky anymore”(125). Manolin
objects, “The hell with luck.... I’ll bring the
luck with me” (125). Santiago acquiesces
and Manolin leaves to fetch food and a shirt.
That afternoon there are tourists on the
Terrace. A female tourist sees the skeleton
of the marlin moving in the tide. Not
recognizing the skeleton, she asks the waiter
what it is. He responds in broken English
“eshark,” thinking she wants to know what
happened. She comments to her partner that
she didn't know sharks had such beautiful
tails. Meanwhile, back in Santiago's shack,
the old man “was still sleeping on his face
and the boy was sitting by him watching
him. The old man was dreaming about
lions” (127).
1.2.5 Themes
Unity:
One of the theme which deals with is unity.
The writer spends a good deal of time
drawing connections between Santiago and
his natural environment: the fish, birds, and
stars are all his brothers or friends, he has
the heart of a turtle, eats turtle eggs for
strength, drinks shark liver oil for health,
etc. Also, apparently contradictory elements
are repeatedly shown as aspects of one
unified whole: the sea is both kind and
cruel, feminine and masculine; the
Portuguese man of war is beautiful but
deadly; the Mako shark is noble but cruel.
The novella's premise of unity helps succour
Santiago in the midst of his great tragedy.
For Santiago, success and failure are two
equal facets of the same existence. They are
transitory forms which capriciously arrive
and depart without affecting the underlying
unity between himself and nature. As long
as he focuses on this unity and sees himself
as part of nature rather than as an external
antagonist competing with it, he cannot be
defeated by whatever misfortunes befall
him.
Heroism: Triumph over crushing adversity
is the heart of heroism, and in order for
Santiago the fisherman to be a heroic
emblem for humankind, his tribulations
must be monumental. Triumph, though, is
9
never final, as Santiago's successful slaying
of the marlin shows, else there would be no
reason to include the final 30 pages of the
book. Hemingway vision of heroism is
Sisyphean, requiring continuous labour for
essentially ephemeral ends. What the hero
does is to face adversity with dignity and
grace, hence Hemingway's Neo-Stoic
emphasis on self-control and the other facets
of his idea of manhood. What we achieve or
fail at externally is not as significant to
heroism as comporting ourselves with inner
nobility. As Santiago says, “[M]an is not
made for defeat.. A man can be destroyed
but not defeated” (103).
Pride:
While important, Hemingway's treatment of
pride in the novella is ambivalent. A heroic
man like Santiago should have pride in his
actions, and as Santiago shows us, “humility
was not disgraceful and it carried no loss of
true pride” (14). At the same, though, it is
apparently Santiago's pride which presses
him to travel dangerously far out into the
sea, “beyond all people in the world,” to
catch the marlin (50). While he loved the
marlin and called him brother, Santiago
admits to killing it for pride, his blood
stirred by battle with such a noble and
worthy antagonist. Some have interpreted
the loss of the marlin as the price Santiago
had to pay for his pride in traveling out so
far in search of such a catch. Contrarily, one
could argue that this pride was beneficial as
it allowed Santiago an edifying challenge
worthy of his heroism. In the end,
Hemingway suggests that pride in a job well
done, even if pride drew one unnecessarily
into the situation, is a positive trait.
Success: Hemingway draws a distinction
between two different types of success:
outer, material success and inner, spiritual
success. While Santiago clearly lacks the
former, the import of this lack is eclipsed by
his possession of the latter. One way to
describe Santiago's story is as a triumph of
indefatigable spirit over exhaustible material
resources. As noted above, the
characteristics of such a spirit are those of
heroism and manhood. That Santiago can
end the novella undefeated after steadily
losing his hard-earned, most valuable
possession is a testament to the privileging
of inner success over outer success.
Worthiness: Being heroic and manly are
not merely qualities of character which one
possesses or does not. One must constantly
demonstrate one's heroism and manliness
through actions conducted with dignity.
Interestingly, worthiness cannot be
conferred upon oneself. Santiago is
obsessed with proving his worthiness to
those around him. He had to prove himself
to the boy: “the thousand times he had
proved it mean nothing. Now he was
proving it again. Each time was a new time
and he never thought about the past when he
was doing it” (66). And he had to prove
himself to the marlin: “I'll kill him....in all
his greatness and glory. Although it is
unjust. But I will show him what a man can
do and what a man endures” (66). A heroic
and manly life is not, then, one of inner
peace and self-sufficiency; it requires
constant demonstration of one's worthiness
through noble action.
1.2.6 Reference to Context
1) “Have faith in the Yankees my son.
Think of the great Joe DiMaggio.”
Santiago says this to Manolin during their
conversation in his shack. They speak of
baseball before Manolin goes to fetch the
sardines for bait for the next day, and
Santiago's admiration for DiMaggio is
apparent. DiMaggio becomes a symbol both
of manhood and of overcoming strife for
Santiago the next day while he is battling
the great marlin. He cuts his hand and thinks
about how Joe DiMaggio keeps playing
despite the handicap of a bone spur; this
gives him the strength to catch the fish.
10
2) “There are many good fishermen and
some great ones. But there is only
you.”
Manolin says this to Santiago before he goes
to bed, comparing him to Joe DiMaggio in
his unique skill. The old man has said that
he knows fishermen who are better than
himself, but Manolin points out that
Santiago stands alone among fishermen.
This is certainly not because of luck - it has
been a long time since he has caught any
fish - but because of the relationship he has
with the sea; one of respect and unity.
3) “They are good... They play and make
jokes and love one another. They are
our brothers like the flying fish.”
Santiago says this of the porpoises who
come to the side of his boat in the night. He
has been feeling lonely and thinking to
himself that nobody should be alone in their
old age; he lost his wife long ago and now
wishes he had Manolin with him on the
boat. But the porpoises come as a couple, as
a representation of love and to give Santiago
strength. He sees them as brothers, like he
sees every creature of the sea, including the
fish he has hooked.
4) “Fish... I'll stay with you until I am
dead.”
Santiago says this to the marlin he has
hooked after it makes a lurch forward in the
middle of the night. He has a lot of line left,
so he is at an advantage against the fish. But
he knows it will drain him of his strength to
trail the fish until it loses energy and
eventually dies, so Santiago says this to
express his commitment to that task. Either
he will die or the fish will die, or both.
5) “Fish... I love you and respect you very
much. But I will kill you dead before
this day ends.”
Santiago says this to the fish before the bird
approaches his boat for a chat. He talks to
the fish as if it is his equal in battle, and he
has great respect for it as a noble creature.
He speaks of his commitment to fulfilling
his job as a fisherman, because it is more
than a job - it is his entire life. All that
Santiago is as a man is wrapped up in his
task of killing the marlin and bringing it
home. Loving and respecting it is not
mutually exclusive with killing it.
6) “He didn't beat you. Not the fish.”
Manolin says this to Santiago after Santiago
has returned home, having lost the fish and
slept through the night. In the morning,
Santiago tells Manolin that “They truly beat
me.” But he is talking about the sharks who
ate the fish after he caught it. It wasn't the
fish who beat him - the fish and he were
brothers in his eyes, and he feels like he has
betrayed the fish by letting it be eaten by the
scavenging sharks.
7) “I didn't know sharks had such
handsome, beautifully formed tails.”
At the end of the story, a female tourist sees
the skeleton of the marlin lashed to the side
of the skiff on the beach. She asks a
Spanish-speaking waiter what happened,
and he answers, “Eshark,” meaning that a
shark had destroyed the fish. But she cannot
understand so she thinks he means that the
skeleton is that of a shark that itself had
been eaten. This confusion demonstrates the
distance between the average person and
their opinion of the creatures of the sea and
Santiago's relationship with it.
8) “I am a strange old man.”
Santiago says this to Manolin after they
finish up a day of fishing on separate boats.
It is meant as an explanation for how his
eyes remain so good after going turtle-ing
for so many years (apparently, turtle-ing
damages the eyes). But it also identifies
Santiago as unique, foreshadowing the
uncanny strength of will and body he will
demonstrate in the days that follow as he
wrestles the marlin. He is also “strange” in
that, unlike most other fishermen, he feels
like the creatures of the sea are his brothers.
9) “Anyone can be a fisherman in May.”
11
Santiago says this to Manolin after Manolin
reminds him to keep warm, since it is
September. It is more difficult to be a
fisherman when it is cold outside, but
Santiago is up for the challenge. This
quotation demonstrates the unique quality
that makes a man a fisherman; in the days
that follow, Santiago will struggle with his
decision to make his living catching and
killing fish, but there is nothing else he can
do. Even though he is not successful in
bringing home the meat of the marlin, he
succeeds in his determination.
10) “If sharks come, God pity him and
me.”
Santiago says this aloud to himself while he
trails the marlin. He is determined to be
“worthy of the great DiMaggio,” who is
able to play baseball even with a bone spur.
This quotation foreshadows the coming of
the sharks who will eat all the meat of the
marlin before Santiago is able to return to
shore. It implies that the marlin and
Santiago are one, united against the
ravaging sharks. This sentiment is contrary
to the battle that is staged between man and
fish as Santiago tries to outlast the marlin.
1.3 Questions For Self Study
1) Character of Satiago/Manolin
2) Santiago’s struggle
3) Santiago’s epic journey
4) Message of the Novella
Note: The above discussion and analysis
will help to prepare essay type answers.
 LESSON 2: LITERATURE
Unit Structure:
2.0 Objectives
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Subject Debate
2.2.1 What is Literature
2.2.2 The notion of literariness and the
Figure of the Literary Hero
2.2.3 Different types of literatures
2.2.4 Other forms of creative and non-
creative writing
2.2.5 Different types of literature
2.0 Objectives
In this lesson students will be able to:
1. Understand the literature and
literariness
2. Comprehend the different types of
literature
3. Differentiate between creative and non-
creative writing
2.1 Introduction
Literary terms are words used in, and having
specific meaning in discussion, review,
criticism and classification of literary works
such as stories, poetry, drama, and essays.
There is no authorized list of such words.
Words that are used frequently for the
purposes described above come to be
recognized as literary terms. Literary terms
are words such as personification, simile,
hyperbole, metaphor, and so on. They are
used to describe various
2.2 Subject Debates
2.2.1 What is Literature?
Literature is fundamentally an expression of
life through the medium of language.
Hudson. A great book grows directly out of
life. Literature brings us into large, close
and fresh relations with life. Literature is
vital record of what men have seen in life.
What they have experienced of it, what they
12
have thought and felt about those aspect of
life. These aspects are of the most
immediate and enduring interests for all of
us. Literature lives by virtue of the life
which it embodies. To say that literature
grows out of life means life is the source of
literature.
Mathew Arnold defines literature as, ‘The
criticism of life’. According to Morely,
‘literature consists of all the books where
moral truth and human passion are touched
with certain largeness’ Oscar wild believes
that ‘literature always anticipates life. It
does not copy it but moulds it to its
purpose’. George Eliot says that ‘literature
is the nearest thing to life; it is a mode of
amplifying experience and extending our
contact with our fellowmen beyond bounds
of our personal lot’.
In the widest sense of the word, literature is
simply anything that ids written. In this
sense even, a joke on the back of match box
or a text book on surgery can also be called
literature. So, we need some less covering
definition. It uses words not merely to give
information but to convey feelings, attitudes
and state of mind. It is a writing which
expresses or communicates some kind of
emotion, thought or attitude.
Literature is something more serious and
more permanent’. Permanence or at least
some pretension to permanence is probably
an essential quality of literature as different
from journalism or advertisings. We must
agree with Rees, he says, ‘To define
literature is an almost impossible task. We
can say that it is a permanent expression in
words of some thought or emotion’.
Literature is the communication of
experience. Experience is the substance of
literature. Everything that can be
experienced by man in life for the sake of
experience, becomes the subject matter of
literature. The scope of literature is
illimitable. The author must give to the
reader his own experience and transport it
from his own mind to the reader’s mind.
This is not easy to attain. But the writer can
do it by the power of imagination. The
writer has to arouse the same imagination in
readers mind. This is achieved by means of
words which are the symbols of his
experience. His language must not only
express his experience but also represents
the same experience in the reader. The
writer has to rely on his reader’s ability to
respond to his writing.
2.2.2 The Notion of Literariness
According to Roman Jacobson, “The object
of study in literary science is not literature
but ‘literariness’, that is, what makes a given
work a literary work”. Literariness is the
organisation of language which through
special linguistic and formal properties
distinguishes literary texts from non-literary
texts (Baldick 2008). The defining features
of a literary work do not reside in
extraliterary conditions such as history or
sociocultural phenomena under which a
literary text might have been created but in
the form of the language that is used. Thus,
literariness is defined as being the feature
that makes a given work a literary work. It
distinguishes a literary work from ordinary
texts by using certain artistic devices such
as metre, rhyme, and other patterns of sound
and repetition.
2.2.3 Figure of the Literary Author
We cannot consider a book without thinking
of its author. Every book takes us back
immediately to the man behind it, of whose
genius it is a product and whose thoughts
and feelings it embodies. In a history of
Englishliterature, we always rivet our
attention on the personalities of the literary
men who produced that literature. Genius
means many things, but at bottom, it means
strength of personality and consequently
what we call originality. Every great writer
brings one absolutely new thing into the
13
world. It is because of the fact that he
infuses one new characteristic.
2.2.4 Different types of Literatures
Literature has different types like poetry,
drama, prose, fiction, non-fiction, short
story, journalism, essay. They are called as
literary genre. Genre means the type of art,
literature or music characterised by a
specific form, content and style. For
example, literature has four main genre-
poetry, drama, fiction and non-fiction. All of
these genres have particular features and
functions that distinguish them from one
another. Hence, it is necessary on the part of
readers to know which category of genre
they are reading in order to understand the
message it conveys, as they may have
certain expectations prior to the reading
concerned.
2.2.5 Other Forms of Creative and non-
creative writing
When we talk about creative writing, we
tend to focus on fiction, creative nonfiction,
and poetry. But there are many other types
of creative writing such as
Journals:
Journals are often confused for diaries.
Technically, a diary is a type of journal, but
a journal is any written log. You could keep
a gratitude journal, a memory journal, a
dream journal, or a goals journal.
Diaries:
A diary is a specific kind of journal where
you write down the events of each day,
resulting in a chronicle of your life.
Essays.
Not all essays are creative, but plenty of
essays flow from creative thinking. Some
examples include personal essays,
descriptive essays, and persuasive essays.
Storytelling:
One of the most popular types of creative
writing is storytelling. Storytelling lends
itself to both fiction and nonfiction. Popular
forms include flash fiction, short stories,
novellas, and full-length novels. But stories
can also be first-hand or second-hand
accounts of real people and events.
Poetry:
Another popular but under-appreciated type
of writing is poetry, which is easily the most
artistic, creative form of writing. You can
write form poetry, free-form poetry, and
prose poetry. Or try writing a story in rhyme
(perfect for kids).
Memoir:
Memoirs are personal accounts (or stories)
with narrow themes and specific topics.
They are usually the length of novels or
novellas; shorter works of this kind would
be considered essays. Memoir topics focus
on specific experiences rather than
providing a broad life story (which would be
a biography). For example, one might write
a travel or food memoir, which is an account
of one’s personal experiences through the
lens of travel or food (or both).
Vignettes:
A vignette is defined as “a brief evocative
description, account, or episode.” Vignettes
can be poems, stories, descriptions, personal
accounts…anything goes really. The key is
that a vignette is extremely short — just a
quick snippet.
Letters:
Because the ability to communicate
effectively is increasingly valuable, letter
writing is a useful skill. There is a long
tradition of publishing letters, so take extra
care with those emails you’re shooting off to
friends, family, and business associates. In
fact, one way to get published if you don’t
have a lot of clips and credits is to write
letters to the editor of a news publication.
Scripts:
Hit the screen or the stage by writing
screenplays (for film), scripts (for plays), or
teleplays (for TV). You can even write
scripts for video games! As a bonus, scripts
have the potential to reach a non-reading
audience.
14
Song lyrics:
Close cousin of poetry, song lyrics are a fun
and creative way to merge the craft of
writing with the art of music. Writing lyrics
is an excellent path for writers who can play
an instrument or who want to collaborate
with musicians.
Speeches:
Whether persuasive, inspirational, or
informative, speech writing is a discipline
that can lead to prosperous and interesting
career opportunities in almost any field
ranging from science to politics to
education.
Journalism:
Some forms of journalism are more creative
than others. Traditionally, journalism was a
straightforward, objective form of reporting
on facts, people, and events. Today,
journalists often infuse their writing with
opinion and storytelling to make their pieces
more compelling. For good or bad, this new
practice opens journalism to more creative
approaches.
Blogging:
A blog is nothing more than a publishing
platform — a piece of technology that
displays content on the web or an electronic
device. A blog can be just about anything
from a diary to a personal platform to an
educational tool. In terms of creative
writing, blogs are wide open because you
can use them to publish any (or all) types of
creative writing.
Here it is essential to differentiate between
two types of literature: applied literature and
pure literature. These two items can be
properly explained by studying Darwin’s
The Origin of Species and Keats poem Ode
on a Grecian Urn. The Origin of Species has
certainly some literary merit in the form of
expressive power, as Darwin has
communicated certain information. Keats
Ode on a Grecian Urn gives us no
information which may true or false. It is the
work of literature so a pure literature. The
Origin of Species is applied literature.
 LESSON 3: FORMS AND GENRES OF LITERATURE
Unit Structure:
3.0 Objectives
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Subject Debates
3.2.1 Non-Fiction
3.2.2 Type of Fiction
3.2.3 Special Reference to Novels
3.0 Objectives
In this lesson students will be able to:
1. Understand the different types of non-
fiction literature
2. Understand different categories of
fiction
3. Recognize the various types of novels
3.1 Introduction
Literary terms are words used in, and having
specific meaning in discussion, review,
criticism and classification of literary works
such as stories, poetry, drama, and essays.
There is no authorized list of such words.
Words that are used frequently for the
purposes described above come to be
recognized as literary terms.
3.2 Subject Debates
3.2.1 Non-Fiction:
1. Narrative Nonfiction:
This type of writing is information based on
the fact that is presented in a format which
tells a story.
2. Essays:
Any short composition in prose that
undertakes to discuss a matter, express a
point of view, persuades us to accept a
thesis on any subject or simply entertain. It
is addressed to general rather than specific
audience. The subjects are discussed in
nontechnical fashion and often with a liberal
use of such devices as anecdote, striking
illustration, and humour to augment to
15
appeal. The essay can be formal and
informal. The formal essay is impersonal.
The author writes as an authority or as
highly knowledgeable and expounds the
subject in an orderly way.
3.Biography:
According to John Dryden biography is “the
history of particular men’s lives”. The name
now connotes a relatively full account of a
particular person’s life, involving the
attempt to set forth character, temperament,
and milieu as well as the subject’s activities
and experiences. An authorized biography is
written with the permission, cooperation,
and at times, participation of a subject or a
subject's heirs.
4. Autobiography:
It is a biography written by the writer about
himself or herself. Autobiographical works
can take many forms, from
the intimate writings made during life that
were not necessarily intended for
publication (including letters, diaries,
journals, memoirs, and reminiscences) to a
formal book-length autobiography.
5. Speech:
It is the faculty or power of speaking; oral
communication; ability to express one’s
thoughts and emotions by speech, sounds,
and gesture. Generally delivered in the form
of an address or discourse.
3.2.2 Type of Fiction
1. Drama:
The term ‘Drama’ originates from the Greek
language which means ‘to do’. It is designed
for a performance in the theatre. It is a
specific mode of fiction represented in
performance. The actors take the roles of the
characters, perform the indicated action, and
utter the written dialogue. It is an objective
representation of the conflicts, actions,
events and crisis from the lives of the
concerned characters. The common
alternative name for the drama is a ‘play’. It
can be Poetic Drama or Closet Drama. In
Poetic Drama the dialogue is written in
verse. A closet drama is written in dramatic
form, with dialogue, indicated setting, and
stage direction.
2. Poetry:
Poetry is the term derived from the Greek
term Poiesis means “making”. It is a type of
literature that uses aesthetic and rhythmic
qualities of language. It is verse and
rhythmic writing with imagery that evokes
an emotional response from the reader. The
art of poetry is rhythmical in composition,
written or spoken. This genre of literature is
for exciting pleasure by beautiful,
imaginative, or elevated thoughts.
3. Fantasy:
Itis the forming of mental images with
strange or other worldly settings or
characters; fiction which invites suspension
of reality. It is as old as the fictional utopias,
and its satiric form have an important
precursor in the extraordinary countries
portrayed in Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s
Travels.
4. Humour:
The aim of this type of writing is
amusement or laughter. It is a literary tool
that makes audiences laugh, or that intends
to induce amusement or laughter. Its
purpose is to break the monotony, boredom,
and tedium, and make the audience's nerves
relax. The writer uses different techniques,
tools, words, and even full sentences in
order to bring to light new and funny sides
of life. Humour is often found in literature,
theatre, movies, and advertising, where the
major purpose is to make the audience
happy.
5. Fable:
The word fable is derived from the Latin
word fibula, which means “a story,” and a
derivative of the word fari, which means “to
speak.” Fable is a literary device that can be
defined as a concise and brief story intended
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to provide a moral lesson at the end. In
literature, it is described as a didactic lesson
given through some sort of animal story.
In prose and verse, a fable is described
through plants, animals, forces, of nature,
and inanimate objects by giving them
human attributes wherein they demonstrate
a moral lesson at the end.
6. Fairy Tales:
A fairy tale is a story, often intended for
children, that features fanciful and
wondrous characters such as elves, goblins,
wizards, and even, but not necessarily,
fairies. The term “fairy” tale seems to refer
more to the fantastic and magical setting or
magical influences within a story, rather
than the presence of the character of a fairy
within that story. Fairy tales are often
traditional; many were passed down from
story-teller to story-teller before being
recorded in books.
7. Science Fiction:
It is a story based on impact of potential
science, either actual or imagined. Science
fiction is one of the genres of literature that
is set in the future or on other planets.
8. Realistic Fiction:
It is characterised as the fictional attempt tp
give the effect of realism, by representing
complex characters with mixed motives who
are rooted in a social class. In a simple word
it is a story that can actually happen and is
true to real life.
9. Folklore:
This form of writings are songs, stories,
myths, and proverbs of a person of “folk”
that was handed down by word of mouth.
Folklore is a genre of literature that is
widely held, but false and based on
unsubstantiated beliefs.
10. Horror:
It is an overwhelming and painful feeling
caused by literature that is frightfully
shocking, terrifying, or revolting. Fiction in
which events evoke a feeling of dread in
both the characters and the reader.
11. Historical Fiction:
This type of fiction has its setting a usually
significant period of history and that
attempts to convey the spirit, manners, and
social conditions of a past age with realistic
detail and fidelity to historical fact. The
work may deal with actual historical
personages or it may contain a mixture of
fictional and historical characters.
12. Short Stories:
A work of fiction which is usually written in
prose and most of the time it is in narrative
format. It deals with a few characters and
often concentrates on the creation of the
mood rather than the plot.
13. Legend:
It is a story that sometimes of a national or
folk hero. Legend is based on fact but also
includes imaginative material. Further, it is
atraditional story or group of stories told
about a particular person or place. Formerly
the term legend meant a tale about
a saint. Legends resemble folktales in
content; they may include supernatural
beings, elements of mythology, or
explanations of natural phenomena, but they
are associated with a particular locality or
person and are told as a matter of history.
14. Mythology:
It is a type of legend or traditional narrative.
This is often based in part on historical
events, that reveals human behaviour and
natural phenomena by its symbolism; often
pertaining to the actions of the gods. A body
of myths, as that of a particular people or
that relating to a particular person.
15. Mystery:
It is a genre of literature whose stories focus
on a mysterious crime, situation or
circumstance that needs to be solved. The
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term comes from the Latin mysterium,
meaning “a secret thing.” stories can be
either fictional or nonfictional, and can
focus on both supernatural and non-
supernatural topics. Many mystery stories
involve what is called a “whodunit”
scenario, meaning the mystery revolves
around the uncovering a culprit or criminal.
3.2.3 Special Reference to Novels:
1. Adventure:
A genre of fiction in which action is the key
element, overshadowing characters, theme
and setting. The conflict in an adventure
story is often man against nature. A
secondary plot that reinforces this kind of
conflict is sometimes included.
2. Buildungsroman:
In literary criticism, bildungsroman ; in
German it means: “formation novel”) or
coming-of-age story is a literary genre that
focuses on the psychological and moral
growth of the protagonist from youth to
adulthood (coming of age),and in which
character change is it in 1905.The genre is
further characterized by a number of formal,
topical, and thematic features. The term
coming-of-age novel is sometimes used
interchangeably with Bildungsroman, but its
use is usually wider and less technical. thus
extremely important. The term was coined
in 1819 by philologist Karl Morgenstern in
his university lectures, and later famously
reprised by Wilhelm Dilthey, who
legitimized it in 1870 and popularized.
3. Chick lit:
Chick lit is genre fiction which addresses
issues of modern womanhood, often
humorously and light-heartedly. Although it
sometimes includes romantic elements,
chick lit is generally not considered a direct
subcategory of the romance novel genre,
because the heroine's relationship with her
family or friends is often just as important
as her romantic relationships.
4. Crime and Detective:
Crime and Detective fiction is also known
as Detective fiction or crime
fiction and mystery fiction. In this type of
fiction an investigator or a detective plays
an important role he can be professional,
amateur or retired person who investigates a
crime, often murder. The detective genre
began around the same time as speculative
fiction and other genre fiction in the mid-
nineteenth century and has remained
extremely popular, particularly
[1]
novels. Some of the most famous heroes
of detective fiction include C. Auguste
Dupin, Sherlock Holmes, etc.
5. Epistolary:
An epistolary novel is a novel written as a
series of documents. The usual form is
letters, although diary entries, newspaper
clippings and other documents are
sometimes used. Recently, electronic
“documents” such as recordings and radio,
blogs, and e-mails have also come into use.
The word epistolary is derived through
Latin from the Greek word epistole,
meaning a letter. The epistolary form can
add greater realism to a story because it
mimics the workings of real life. It is thus
able to demonstrate differing points of view
without recourse to the device of an
omniscient narrator.
6. Family Saga:
The family saga chronicles the lives and
doings of a family or a number of related or
interconnected families. The typical novel
follows the generations of a family through
a period of time to portray particular
historical events, changes of social
circumstances, or the ebb and flow of
fortunes from a multiple of perspectives.
7. Feminist:
A fiction which supports the feminist goals
of defining, establishing and defending
equal civil, political, economic and social
rights for women.
8. Gothic:
This type of category fiction dates back to
the late eighteenth and early nineteenth
centuries. Contemporary gothic novels are
characterized by atmospheric, historical
settings and feature young, beautiful women
who win the favour of handsome, brooding
heroes—simultaneously dealing
successfully with some life-threatening
menace, either natural or supernatural.
Gothics rely on mystery, peril, romantic
in relationships and a sense of foreboding for
their strong, emotional effect on the reader.
A classic early gothic novel is Emily
Bronte’s Wuthering Heights. The gothic
writer builds a series of credible, emotional
crises for his ultimately triumphant heroine.
Sex between the woman and her lover is
implied rather than graphically detailed; the
writer’s descriptive talents are used instead
to paint rich, desolate, gloomy settings in
stark mansions and awesomecastles. He
composes slow-paced, intricate sketches that
create a sense of impending evil on every
page.
9. Historical:
This fiction began in 19th century with Sir
Walter Scott. A fictional story set in a
recognizable period of history. As well as
telling the stories of ordinary people’s lives,
historical fiction may involve political or
social events of the time. Further, its setting,
characters and events are taken from history.
10. Magic Realism:
The term was applied in the 1920 to a
school of painters. It interweaves primarily a
realistic view of the real world while also
adding or revealing magical elements. It is
sometimes called fabulism. Magical realism
can be found in most art forms throughout
the world, however the literary movement of
magical realism was spearheaded by Latin
American authors.
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 11. Realist:
A type of novel that places a strong
emphasis on the truthful representation of
the actual in fiction. It has complex
characters with mixed motives who are
rooted in a social class. Generally, the realist
is a believer in democracy, and the materials
he elects to to describe are the common, the
average, the everyday.
12. Romance:
The romance novels are about relationship
or romantic love between two people and it
has emotionally satisfying and happy
ending. The term “romance” is also applied
to a type of novel defined by Walter Scott as
“a fictitious narrative in prose or verse; the
interest of which turns upon marvellous and
uncommon incidents”.
13. Utopian:
The word Utopia is taken from Sir Thomas
More’s work in Latin titled Utopia (1515-
1516). More coined this term by combing
the Greek words ‘eutopia’ (good place) and
‘outopia’ (no place). The utopia is defined
as a species of prose fiction that describes in
some detail a non-existent society located in
time and space.
14. Victorian:
The Victorian Age is essentially the age of
the novel or fiction. During this period, the
novel made a rapid progress. This was partly
because this middle-class form of literary art
was bound to flourish increasingly as the
middle class rose in power and importance,
partly because of the steady increase of the
reading public with the growth of lending
libraries, the development of publishing in the
modern sense and other events which
accompanied this increase, and partly because
the novel was the best means to present a
picture of life, lived under the stable
background of social moral values by people
who were like the people encountered by
19
readers, and this was the kind of picture of
life, the middle-class readers wanted to read
about. They chose for their themes the
specific contemporary problems of the
Victorian society caused by the predominance
of industrialism and utilitarianism and wrote
about them sometimes as satirists, sometimes
as humanists, sometimes as moralists. The
novelists of the Victorian era are William
Thackrey, Charles Dickens, Anthony
Trollope, Mrs. Gaskell etc.
15. War:
The setting of this type of novel is a
battlefield or civilian area. The characters
involve in the preparation of war or
experience the anguish of war or recuperate
from war. The war novel is also called as
military fiction and sometimes they are
included in historical category of the novel.
16. Autobiographical:
These kind of novel uses autofiction
technique i.e. merger of autobiographical
and imaginative elements. The writer can
change names, location and events for the
artistic purpose but the overall impact of
such novel resembles to the author’s life.
The events and experiences of the writer can
be true or exaggerated for the purpose of the
fictional needs.
17. Biographical:
The novel which provides fictional account
of a contemporary or historical person’s life
is called as the biographical novel. The
novel provides the details of events,
experiences and events that particular
person met. Sometimes the above details
can be curtailed or reimagined for the
artistic purpose.
LESSON 4: LANGUAGE SKILLS IN LITERARY WRITING –
COHESION, COHERENCE, STRUCTURES OF WRITING
Unit Structure:
4.0 Objective
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Subject Debate
4.2.1 Cohesion
4.2.2 Coherence
4.2.3 Structures of Writing
4.0 Objectives
In this lesson students will be able to:
1. Understand the mechanics of
language skills in literature
4.1 Introduction
Writing skills are essential to convey the
message the writer intends to convey
otherwise the intended message will not
yield desired results. The language skills
like cohesion, coherence and structures of
writing are helpful tools for effective
literary writing.
4.2 Subject Debate
4.2.1 Cohesion:
It is one of the two qualities that give a
written or spoken text unity and purpose, the
other being coherence. It refers to the use of
linguistic devices to join sentences together,
including conjunctions, reference words,
substitution and lexical devices such as
repetition of words, collocations and lexical
groups.
4.2.2 Coherence:
It is one of the two qualities that give a
written or spoken text unity and purpose.
The other is cohesion. Coherence refers to
the general sense that a text makes sense
through the organisation of its content. In
writing, it is provided by a clear and
understood structuring of paragraphs and
sentences in writing.
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4.2.3 Structures of Writing:
Every piece of writing, whether it is a cover
letter for a job application, a news article, or
a fictional short story, has its own structure.
Think of structure as the skeleton of a piece
of writing. It is the bare bones of the piece,
all connected to form a solid, uniform
foundation upon which you, the writer and
the creator, will build something unique.
Humans, for example, all have nearly
identical basic skeletons. However, it’s
everything that goes on top of those
skeletons-the muscles, the facial features,
the shape, the curves, the personality, and
even the clothes and accessories-that makes
each human unique.
The structure simply involves the beginning,
middle and end of the writing. Apart from
this there are different structures of writing.
Categorical:
In a categorical structure, a series of equally
important topics are addressed. A political
speech, like a campaign speech or even The
State of the Union Address, is a good
example of categorical writing. You might
use a similar structure in a cover letter for a
job application, in which you describe all of
your traits that would make you an ideal
candidate for the position.
Evaluative:
In an evaluative structure, a problem is
introduced, and then pros and cons are
weighed. You might employ an evaluative
structure when writing an e-mail to ask a
close friend for advice.
Chronological:
When your focus is more the actual telling
of the story than the end result, employ a
chronological structure. Think of joke
telling. “Three guys walk into a bar…” sets
up a sequence of events to deliver that final
punch line. Similarly, most short stories and
novels are written chronologically.
Comparative:
This structure is similar to evaluative, but it
is used when there are more layers to the
situation at hand that is being weighed. You
might use a comparative structure if you
were writing a speech for a debate team to
explain the various reasons why you feel
your point is stronger than your opponent’s.
Or you might use a comparative structure to
write a letter to the editor explaining all the
reasons you disagree with the city council’s
decision to raise local taxes.
Sequential:
This structure is similar to Chronological
but is normally employed with a how-to
voice when a step-by-step process is being
described. If you were going to write about
how to make your famous chocolate layer
cake, or how to get to a great bed-and-
breakfast you discovered out in the country,
you would write sequentially, using words
like, “First,” “Next, “Then,” and “Finally”
to clarify your instructions.
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Causal:
This structure might at first glance seem
similar to Comparative structures, but it
differs in that it does not involve weighing
options against one another. Instead, it
discusses the causes and then the effects
regarding a particular topic or issue in that
order. You might use this structure if you
were writing an article on how something
has come about, such as the contributing
factors to air pollution. Or you might
employ this technique in a letter explaining
why you have decided to resign from your
job.
Conclusion:
Now that you know about the different
kinds of structures, start paying attention to
the skeletons of all the pieces of writing
around you. The next time you flip through
a magazine or skim through a weekly e-
newsletter that you subscribe to, or even
read a letter from a friend, take some time to
x-ray the writing and see how its bare bones
are connected. Good writers hone their skills
by being constantly aware of what they’re
reading.
 Reference

1) Prasad. B. A Background to the Study of English Literature, 2008 (reprint).

Chennai: Macmillan, India Ltd.
2) Klarer, Mario An Introduction to Literary Studies, 1998. London: Routledge.
3) Hopkins, Chris, Thinking About Text – An Introduction to English Studies 2001. New
York: Palgrave.
4) Daiches David, A Study of Literature for Readers and Critics, 1968. London: Andre
Deutsch .
5) Stephen Martin, English Literature A Student Guide, 2000, Longman, London

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 Questions for Internal Assignments
NOTE
• Students will have to choose any 2 topics from the following list and submit
before the deadline.
• Choose 1 question from Section I (15 Marks) and Choose 1 question from
Section II (10 Marks).
• The assignments carry 25 marks.
• Marks will be given on the basis of following
a. Introduction of the topic
b. Content of the topic
c. Quality and originality of the content critical reflections.
d. Conclusion
e. References used
f. Overall presentation of the project/Assignment.

SECTION I

Q.1. A) Answer the following Questions: (Any One) 10 Marks

1. Comment on the themes in The Old Man and the Sea.
2. Discuss the fighting spirit of Santiago in the novella The Old Man and the
Sea.
3. Write a summary of the novella The Old Man and the Sea.
4. Comment on the character of Santiago.
5. Discuss what is literature, literariness and the figure of the literary hero.
6. Explain any three non-fiction literary terms prescribed in the syllabus.
7. Explain the terms drama, fantasy, fable, folklore.
8. Explain any four types of novels prescribed in the syllabus.
9. Write an essay on any literary topic using the language skills- Cohesion,
coherence and structure of writing.

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 SECTION II

Q.2. A) Answer the following Questions: (Any One) 05 Marks

1. Manolin
2. Santiago’s Return Journey
3. Message in the Novella
4. Santiago’s Heroism
5. Friendship Between Santiago and Manolin
6. Character of Satiago/Manolin
7. Santiago’s struggle
8. Santiago’s epic journey
9. Message of the Novella

*********************

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